Backups – The Key To Safe Computing
Here’s a data
loss-prevention exercise that any organization can run immediately at little or
no cost except, perhaps, to some egos. Simply ask for some critical data to be
restored from backup. Accept no
excuses. If the exercise is successful,
great. But the chances are very good
that it won’t be. In fact, there are long-time IT consultants who have often asked
but never seen data successfully restored from backup.
Organizations
underestimate the length and fragility of the backup chain. First off, the data has to exist in a form
that can be backed up. The backup
hardware and software must be functioning correctly, and the media must
actually capture the information.
Somebody must cause the backup to be performed and the backed-up data
must be, ideally, properly documented and moved to an off-site location. Finally, the data must be restored in a
timely manner, so everybody can get back to work.
The list of
things that can go wrong in that chain of events is almost endless. Ironically,
the biggest enemy of regular, properly executed backups is the reliability and
efficiency of today’s IT systems. That dependability means that restoring data
from backup is rarely necessary. Unfortunately, systems that are seldom used
tend to fall into decay and that is where the danger lies.
